Today’s discussion is all about the genres that I read and the ones that I don’t. Yes, there are some genres that I don’t read. My favorite genres to read are fantasy, historical fiction, ya, middle grade and I’m starting to read more contemporary. My favorite fantasy novels are The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia and the Zodiac series. The Chronicles of Narnia books are actually the first high fantasy books I ever read. With these books, I can always put myself into them, and that is something that I always look for when I read a fantasy book. My favorite historical fiction books are Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet, The Dollhouse, and The Great Library series. Reading historical fiction feels like going back in time. Some of my favorite books fit into more than one category, especially my favorite books that fall under middle grade and ya. I’m also trying to make more of an effort to read own voices and diverse books.
While I pretty much stick to the same genres of books, there are genres that I don’t read. For instance, I don’t read any romance novels. I have no interest or desire to read romance novels, it just isn’t my cup of tea. If a book has romance in it but isn’t the central theme I’m okay with it. I’m just not into reading a whole book about romance. I also don’t read a lot of women’s fiction for the same reasons I don’t read romance. I read books to escape, and I feel that romance and women’s fiction can’t do that for me.
Are there genres that you prefer to read over others?
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I tend to stay away from contemporaries that mostly focus on romance like those light summer-y reads. My favourite genres are definitely Horror, Fantasy and Sci-Fi, although High Fantasy does intimidate me! I love being able to escape when I read so it’s why I normally stick to the SFF genre.
I don’t mind if books have romance, as long as it’s not the whole book or insta-love.
Yeah, it’s fine as a side plot I just don’t like it when it’s literally all the book is about 😅
I’m definitely a big fantasy fan. I think this year I really broadened my horizons, reading more contemporary and historical fiction. Science fiction is a genre I rarely pick up. I want to be more into it, but it doesn’t always appeal to me.
My favorite science fiction series is Zodiac by Romina Russell, it’s not too much science that you can’t read and understand it, plus the covers are gorgeous. I read Illuminae and barely got through it.
Yes, I always see you praising Zodiac. I have not picked that one up, nor Illuminae (people love it, but the hype kind of puts me off and the aforementioned science-fiction thing).
I love the format of Illuminae but I got really bored with the content.
It looks like it is formatted really interestingly, but my instincts say maybe just check it out from the library in the future.
If you have an eReader you could always get the free sample.
I love fantasy, mystery, and contemporaries where there is a real plot and not just a character study or romance. I’m not really into sci-fi. But I won’t say that I NEVER read it since I just finished Illuminae. I’m just that into space. I know… tragic. I also don’t do horror. I like mystery and some thrillers. But when you get into the blood and guts NO THANK YOU! Good discussion!
Thank you! And I didn’t enjoy Illuminae. I loved the format, but I didn’t enjoy the content. One of my favorite series is set in space, but it’s nothing like the sci-fi of Illuminae, it’s actually enjoyable. And I’m not for blood and guts either.
I read so many different genres that I think it’s easier to list the ones I don’t! I don’t tend to read non-fiction, nor romance unless there’s a juicy mystery involved! I read some science fiction, but I tend to stick with dystopian. Everything else is up for grabs with me!💁🏻
For me to read non-fiction I have to be really interested in the topic, and if it’s a memoir, I have to be really interested in the person.
Yay! You found me! I’m the same as far as non-fiction goes. In the very rare cases I read it it’s usually a biography.
I usually read auto-biographies, those are more personal!
Fantasy is probably my favorite genre, too. I honestly love to read different genres all the time, or I get a little bored. Right now, I’ve read so many fantasy books that I’m craving something different. I like thrillers, horror, mystery, science fiction, memoirs, poetry, literary fiction…
The only genre that I have a hard time with is romance, just like you. I usually dislike romance in books, so imagine having a whole novel based on that?! Haha. But for the sake of genre exploration, I’m going to try to give romance books a go next year. It’s a personal challenge I have to take 😛
I don’t read a lot of poetry, I feel like with poetry I read so much of it in school and had to analyze it. I don’t dislike romance in books as long as it doesn’t take up the whole book, one of my favorite books with romance in it is The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson. I definitely won’t be reading any romance novels next year. I also love a good memoir every now and again, but I have to have a real interest in the person in order to read it. The last science fiction book that I read was Illuminae and I didn’t enjoy it at all, I loved the unique format but I didn’t like the content.
I never read much poetry in school or college, it was all pretty basic and I didn’t quite get why would we analyze it they way they wanted us to. Then I discovered some poetry collections that really spoke to me and it’s been a whole new experience, very enjoyable!
Totally agree with the memoir thing, of course. I can’t read a memoir by someone who I’m not interested in just for the sake of reading a memoir. I must know them or they must have lived something that I find intriguing, or else I won’t feel like reading it.
And that’s a shame about Illuminae. I’ve heard so many good things about it 😦
One of the best memoirs I have ever read is I Am Malala! Maybe I should try and read poetry again, I’ve never really searched.
I loved that one, too! Malala is an incredible person. And maybe you should give poetry another go, just be sure to find something that really calls to you 🙂 Oh, and forget everything you learned at school about it. That really helps enjoy it more haha 😉
Yes, I intend to forget everything I learned in school about poetry. I want to read happy fluffy poetry, not sad, sappy, depressing poetry.
If I find a collection like that, I’ll be sure to let you know!
Awesome, thank you!
Great post! I usually read fantasy and dystopian as my go to genres. I don’t usually read contemporary unless I really like the premise.
Thank you! After reading Allegiant, I’m kind of shying away from dystopian.
Yeah, Allegiant would do that to some one
I really hated the ending!
I love most fantasy, but I’m not really into high fantasy. Furthermore I love contemporary, sci-fi (even though I barely read it), classics (but only every now and then) and of course YA.
I have mixed feelings about romance, it’s okay and fun to a certain degree, but not if it’s the only theme in the book. Especially when the love story is very platonic, it’s just not for me.
I don’t read thrillers or horror stories.
I don’t read any thrillers, horror or mystery stories at all either. High fantasy can be rather intimidating.